The ordeal of the reunion
Subtitle: a new history of Reconstruction
By: by Mark Wahlgren Summers
Series: The Littlefield history of the Civil War era; Littlefield history of the Civil War era
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 517
ISBN-13: 9781469617572
Subjects: Politics and government; Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877)
Description: "For a generation, scholarship on the Reconstruction era has rightly focused on the struggles of the recently enslaved for a meaningful freedom and defined its success or failure largely in those terms. Summers goes beyond this vitally important question, focusing on Reconstruction's need to form an enduring Union without sacrificing the framework of federalism and republican democracy. This book offers a fresh explanation for Reconstruction's demise and a case for its essential successes as well as its great failures. Indeed, this book demonstrates the extent to which the victors' aims in 1865 were met--and at what cost"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 455-499) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: The great unfinished task remaining before us; title: When this cruel peace is over; title: Restoration, 1865-1866; title: Reconstruction at last, 1865-1867; title: Bottom rail on top, 1867; title: The critical year : 1868; title: Two failed peace policies; title: Conquered provinces; title: Passage to India : unmanifested destiny; title: On every putrid spot; title: Georgia on their mind, 1870-1871; title: Corruption is the fashion; title: Clasping hands over the bloody chasm; title: Dead Sea fruits, 1872-1874; title: Redeemer nation; title: Last full measure of defection.